Jacks, Marcy - Mason Returns to His Mate [DeWitt's Pack 8] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (9 page)

Adam, Corey, and Tristan.

If Derek remembered this right, Corey was the partner of Mason’s brother, and so the other man had spent as much time as he could making Derek feel welcome, even before the entire pack found out that he and Mason were having sex.

The only difference was that now everything didn’t feel so awkward, so Derek was able to accept the invitations that Corey offered him. He was sort of curious as to how Corey’s hand had become so badly scarred. It looked as though several layers of flesh had been peeled away and never grew back. He didn’t want to be rude, so he didn’t ask and tried not to stare.

Tristan was the most fun, and Derek liked sharing a beer with him, and Adam was an alpha.

Since this was the first time Derek had been able to actually be near any of these amazing people for this long, he allowed himself to be curious about this subject. He wanted to learn everything he could about the place that had once been Mason’s  home.

“So, two wolves of the same sex coming together is normal? I mean, no one here seems to have any issues with that,” Derek added when all three pairs of eyes looked at each other.

There were the usual awkward glances at each other before Adam decided  to answer that one. “I wouldn’t take what you see in this pack as being the norm for other packs, Derek,” he said. “A lot of the alphas here have mated with omegas. That’s normal, but not that common. In the wild, real alpha wolves tend to mate with other alphas, and only if they’re opposite sex. Nick and I are mated alphas, but we’re werewolves, so that sort of mix isn't common at all. The

fact that we’re both alphas and male is a whole other level of  different, actually. A lot of people would’ve thought we’d be too  aggressive to make a mated pair, but somehow it works for us.”

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This new information shocked Derek. “So, you don’t actually see a lot of wolves of the same sex coming together?”

“We have lately,” Tristan said. “I’m mated with a human, though.

He  does have that alpha personality, which I guess works out for us.”

“These idiots don’t know what they’re talking about and are just guessing,” Corey said. “I haven’t been a werewolf for very long, only a couple months, but I’ve checked in on this. Yes, in  the wild it’s common for two alpha wolves to come together. Not an alpha and an omega like how werewolves do it.”

“Yeah, but how we’ve been mating here is what’ s not common,”

said Tristan.

“Says you and only because you’ve never seen any other pack but

this one and Phil’s.”

“Who?” Derek asked.

“He’s a leading alpha in a neighboring pack.”

Jesus Christ. It wasn’t just James’s pack in the area, but there  were more of them? How had Derek lived the last ten years of his life  in Brampton and never known this?

Granted, he hadn’t known for certain about werewolves until he

met Mason, but he’d thought he’d developed an eye for them after  that. He thought he’d be able to tell when there were more of them in  such a small area.

Guess he was wrong.

Tristan had the decency to look sheepish. He crossed his arms and actually pouted. “Doesn’t mean anything,” he muttered.

Corey rolled his eyes and looked back at Derek before bringing the neck of his beer to his lips. “Sometimes these guys’ll forget they’re people first and wolves second.”

“Our wolves are just as much a part of us as any wolf in the wild.”

“Yes, but they don’t change into people and get jobs to bring in money. We’re similar to them, yes, very similar, but we’re still in a whole different league, and that means  different rules will apply to us and our instincts.”

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He had a pretty good point, and from the looks on Adam’s and  Tristan’s faces, they knew it, too.

Not that Derek had any idea of what it was like to be a werewolf, but it was the most interesting thing in the world, watching them debate over the differences between werewolves and wild American

wolves.

The questions at first ranged from being serious and philosophical to silly and joking. Tristan even went so far as to ask if a wolf transforming into a human would be a
 
wereman
.

Derek chatted with them some more, getting the lay of the land, as well as some of the rules the pack followed in order to survive.  Everyone was responsible for a couple of things. Some did the laundry and cooked, though everyone was  responsible for their own cleaning, while others went out and hunted for meat or took odd jobs in town to bring in money.

Derek had seen them before, usually alphas loading up their trucks with the furniture of people who were moving into a different house

or apartment.

He knew that Mrs. Kettle, the crazy cat lady he’d purchased the  pawn shop from, had her groceries delivered to her by one of the  wolves from this pack. Another female werewolf did her gardening  while she drank iced tea in the shade.

Derek wondered if anyone in the town knew just how close they were to dealing with the supernatural.

“What’re your plans?” Corey asked.

Derek blinked. He hadn’t meant to space out like he had. “Me? I guess when my name clears I’ll see what I can salvage of the shop.  Maybe the insurance money will be enough for me to start it up again if there’s nothing left over. Why are you shaking your head at me?”

Corey stopped, his body going tight, as though he hadn’t realized he’d been shaking his head to begin with.

More of  that awkward looking amongst each other thing happened between Tristan and Adam before they both got up.

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“Hey! Where are you both going?” Corey demanded.

Adam downed the last of his beer and put the empty bottle on the  picnic table where they’d been sitting. “You’re the boss’s mate and an  omega. As far as stuff like this is concerned, you’re in charge.”

“Stuff like what?” Corey asked.

“Gentle letdowns,” Tristan said.

Derek didn’t like that one bit.

Both men said their good-byes to him and shook his hand, and  Derek was left alone with the man who was apparently going to try and gently let him down about something.

“Okay, what are they talking about?” he asked.

Corey’s jaw clenched up. “Maybe this is the kind of thing you should be speaking with James about. He’ll know the rules better than  I will.”

Likely because James was the one to make the rules. “Please just tell me what the rules might be then,” Derek said through clenched teeth. He’d never fought so hard for patience before in all his life.

The rest of the pack wandering around must have seen the other two weres leave the table, or at the very least they sensed the tension coming from the space, because everyone was suddenly keeping a distance.

Corey ran his hands through his hair, shifting his body so that he was facing Derek straight on from across the wooden table. “Okay, this is what I know, and you’ll still want to double-check with James and Mason because this might not even be permanent.”

“Might” didn’t take away from the fact that Corey had also said permanent. “Just tell me.”

He especially wanted to know what the hell Mason had to do with this.

Corey drummed his fingers onto the table. “You know that the police are looking for you, right?”

Derek nodded, keeping his eyes firmly locked onto the guilty ones that Corey was sporting. “Yes, because they want to question me

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about insurance fraud.”

“Right, well, considering that there are a couple of hunters out to  get you, too, we can’t let you get picked up.”

Derek had already figured that part out, but what he thought was  going to happen clearly didn’t mesh with what the werewolves were  expecting to happen.

“I figured you were all keeping me safe from the hunters. Is this  because you’re all worried that if I’m brought in the hunters will try  and get me out of the station or something?”

“It’s not like it’s unknown for a hunter to be a police officer.  Believe me, I was shocked when I heard about that, too. It’s not

common because they prefer to go their own route instead of chasing  human bad guys, but we are in a pretty secluded area. Small town,  woodland for miles in all directions, it wouldn’t be too far out there to

assume that someone with a badge who comes looking might be a  hunter, too. Even if they’re not, they’re going to ask you questions we  can’t let you answer.”

“Like what?” Derek snapped, suddenly liking Corey a whole lot  less. He didn’t particularly enjoy being told what he could and could  not do.

“It’s just complicated,” Corey said, glancing around.

Suddenly Derek noticed that there were a couple of people  attempting to inconspicuously look over at them, some inching closer  as they did their chores or watched the pups.

They were either spying because gossip was as much of a  temptation with werewolves as it was with any other species, or they

were  concerned about the well-being of their leader’s partner.

Derek made an effort to keep his anger down a low simmer.

“There’s nothing complicated about this. I have a life I built for  myself. Eventually I want to go and pick it back up again.”

“We’re not kidnapping you,” Corey said.

Derek pressed his lips together. No, technically they hadn’t done  that. Not in the legal sense, he was sure, even if he didn’t know squat

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about the law. They were keeping him here for his protection, there  were people out there who did want to see Derek dead for what he’d  done at the pawn shop, and Derek was more than happy to avoid  those people for a while.

Still, Corey was basically telling him that this problem would  never be solved, and that he would never be able to leave. He didn’t

want to be stuck here.

“James told me about you,” Corey said, lifting his hand. “See  this? This is what happens to humans who support werewolves. I’ve  been shot, too, and I’m lucky to be alive.”

Derek shivered.

“The pack’s been avoiding you for your own protection, but now  that you’re mated to Mason, you’re as connected to us as it gets  without turning you into a werewolf.”

Mated? He and Mason had only just reconnected. It was a little  early to be using that kind of wording, wasn’t it?

He still had  to fight this. “I have people who will miss where I

am.”

If his landlord and the general public who came to his store counted, which they didn’t.

Corey had that look on his face that said he knew Derek was full of shit. He had no one who loved him on the outside and no one who

would care that he’d vanished from the face of the earth.

Derek suddenly felt sick.

“When these hunters are taken care of, it’ll be safer for you to go back out into town. We’ll make up a story that you can tell the police.  Isaac has  a lot of money, and he’ll make sure you get a good lawyer.”

“And how long will that be?” Derek asked.

Corey’s eyes were pitying again. “I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t,” he added quickly when Derek was about to argue some more.  “Hunters are dangerous, and  you said yourself that these guys likely have your ID. If we can’t kill them before they show your picture off to other hunters…” Corey trailed off and shrugged helplessly.

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And he’d wondered about his hand. Now he knew. For the first

time, Derek saw the darker side of this pack. These were nice people  from what he saw on the outside, but realistically, they were part of  the paranormal. They had hunters to deal with and occasionally had to  kill in order to survive. They would kill the men who were after  Derek as well, but that was only because those hunters were also after  the pack. Would they kill Derek if he threatened them, too? Even in  this small way?

He was hardly the kind of man who had issues with death and  killing, so long as it was done in self-defense, but to hear it talked  about so openly and casually was surreal.

Derek got up from the picnic table.

“Where are you going?” Corey asked.

Was this why the other man had been so nice and inviting to him  before? Because he was charged with keeping an eye on him?

“Back to the guest house to think,” Derek muttered, stuffing his  hands into his pockets and not looking back.

Corey didn’t say anything to him as he left.

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Chapter Seven

James clenched his jaw when his younger brother finished telling him the story. “You stayed away for ten years over that? I should kick your ass right now.”